Kyle was feeling pretty pleased with himself for not giving in to temptation last night. At one point he'd woken up, spooned in behind her and as he moved he felt her pushing her ass back into him. It would have been all too easy for instinct to take over, and it had tempted him at the time, but he'd remembered the state she was in, and he didn't want that. If he was going to fuck Patricia, and he really wanted to, he wanted her awake and alert, not drunk and half unconscious.

He frowned and shifted his mind to his coming workout. Kyle was surprised to discover he was really looking forward to it, and had actually missed it last night. He broke into a gentle jog on his way down the path, chuckling as he realised what he was doing.

"You're turning yourself into a gym-junkie, Kyle? Really?"

Julian was waitng, as always, and Kyle threw himself into the mornings programme, working with an intensity he welcomed and Julian encouraged. His arms, shoulders, pecs and stomach all got blasted hard, and he was pleased to note the weights he had been lifting for the last couple of days had increased.

The burning pain in his muscles was actually pleasing him, and Julian nodded approvingly as Kyle completed his warm down.

When he arrived back at the house, Lakshmi was sitting downstairs with a laptop, working away and Kyle slowed to talk to her.

"Morning, Lakshmi. Sleep well?"

"Hi, Kyle. Very good, thank you. You?"

"Yeah, not bad," He nodded.

"How's Patricia?" Lakshmi asked. "I haven't seen her that drunk in a while."

"She's still asleep, although I can see her having the mother of all hangovers."

"I can cover her duties this morning, if you need some help?" She offered, smiling. "Probably best you don't expect too much from her straight away."

"That'll be cool, thanks," Kyle nodded. "I figured she'd need the morning off anyway. Do you happen to know what's in my schedule for today? It's not in my phone yet."

The indian girl looked down at her laptop, her fingers flickering across the keyboard. "Here we are. Breakfast at eight with guests, until around half nine and then you need to be available to escort them to either the helipad or the pier."

"Okay," Kyle nodded, thinking that sounded easy enough.

"Mister Crowler has a ten minute slot with you around ten o'clock, just whenever you can fit him in, and you've got an appointment with Connor Grant at twelve."

"What's that about?"

She tapped at the keyboard again, then looked up, smiling. "Introduction to firearms."

Kyle's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, sir."

"It's Kyle," He said quickly, then grinned. "Do you think Connor will be sober by then?"

"Despite all appearances to the contrary, he takes his work very seriously," Lakshmi explained. "He's got quite a reputation."

"I think he scored with Christy Turlington last night," Kyle grinned.

"She was stunning yesterday. You know she was one of the supermodels? Late eighties, early nineties, along with Cindy Crawford, Elle McPherson, Claudia Schiffer."

"Yeah," Kyle nodded. "She's still got the looks."

"Mister Tripps dated her for a few weeks, years ago," Lakshmi told him. "Since then he'd speak with her on the phone at least once a month, and if they were ever in the same area at the same time they'd meet up for lunch. She was a good friend to him."

"I'll make sure I speak to her before she goes."

Lakshmi nodded. "Anything else I can help you with just now, Kyle?"

"No, I'm good. I better get myself cleaned up and wake up Patricia. Good morning, hangover," He said, grinning.

"Good luck."

Kyle headed upstairs and into his suite, finding Patricia exactly as she was when he left, so he went into the lounge, grabbed a couple of bottles of cold water and returned to the bedroom.

As he looked down at her Kyle had another moment of temptation, a sudden desire to slide the sheet back and admire her naked form, then slide in behind her, but he took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Patricia." He shook her shoulder gently. "Patricia, time to get up."

Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times, then shot bolt upright, looking around.

Kyle chuckled as she figured out where she was.

She thumped back down on the bed and pulled the sheet up over her head. Kyle heard a groan, and then the sheet slowly slid down, revealing her face. She had one eye open a little, the other closed against the light, and she was licking her lips at the dryness in her mouth.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly seven."

"You're late for your workout," She replied immediately, closing her eyes as the enormity of her hangover struck. "Oh dear God."

Kyle chuckled. "I've already been for my workout, sorted out my schedule, and you've got an hour until breakfast, so take it easy. How you feeling?"

"Dire."

"Want some water?" Kyle asked, pressing the bottle into her hand.

Patricia sighed and pulled the nozzle to her lips, squeezing and swallowing half the contents in one go. She lowered the bottle and smiled weakly. "Thank you."

"No problem," Kyle replied. "Do you remember much?"

Patricia frowned as she thought, then grimaced and then flushed a little with embarassment. "Well, I made an ass of myself. Did we....?"

"No," Kyle assured her quickly. "Absolutely no, okay?"

She seemed a little relieved. "Thanks for not... doing anything," She murmured, looking at him through one eye. "I get the feeling I wouldn't have said no."

"No, you wouldn't have said no," Kyle said, then smiled. "In fact at one point you even suggested we have... coitus," He explained, breaking into a broad grin.

"I didn't," She said quickly, then slumped back. "I did. What a tool."

"I thought it was kinda cute. Now, you want me to run you a bath or put the shower on or something?"

"Bath. Please," She muttered, closing her eyes. "Really hot."

"No problem. Just drink the rest of that water, okay. You need to rehydrate."

Kyle put the bath on, surprised at how fast the water level rose, and he opened the cabinet that had jars after jar of different salts, powders and other things that he wasn't sure of. Rather than put in something that might make her feel sick, he just checked the water level and when it was deep enough, he shut off the tap and walked back into the bedroom.

Patricia was sitting up in bed now, her knees drawn up and the sheet tucked under her arms as she drunk from the second water bottle.

"Bath's ready."

"Oh good," She muttered.

Kyle's eyes widened as she threw the sheet to one side and slid naked across the bed, then walked past him and got slowly into the bath.

"Bit casual with the nudity this morning, are we?" He joked.

"I don't care," She stated. "I'm sure you saw me naked last night, and I'm too rough to give a shit today."

She dunked her head under the water, then swept her hair clear of her face as she leaned back against the head of the bath. "Unless it bothers you?"

"I have absolutely no problem seeing you naked when you're sober enough to know what you're doing," Kyle said, smiling. "In fact, you can walk around like that all the time, if you want."

"Only in here," She replied, closing her eyes. "Kyle?"

"Yeah."

"Any chance of some more water? Or a can of Pepsi or something?"

"Sure," He nodded, and fetched one from the small refrigerator in the lounge. He handed the cold can to her.

"Thanks. You'll make someone a wonderful assistant one day."

"Funny."

"I try," She muttered, holding the cold can against her forehead, her eyes closed. "Don't let me drink again please."

"You'll get over it," He replied, grinning at turning one of her phrases back on her.

Her middle finger emerged from the water for a moment, then disappeared again. Kyle looked at her, mostly submerged in the hot, clear water. He could see the smooth skin of her legs, and for the firs time he could see in detail what lay between them. Her pussy was completely shaved, not a hair to be seen, and he could make out her clit protruding just a fraction. Her lips looked firm and tight, no flappy labia hanging out to destroy the symmetry of her groin.

His gaze travelled up, seeing how the water slid back and forth between her breasts like waves on a beach, and he licked his lips, glad her eyes were closed.

"You sure you don't want some bath salts or anything in there?"

"Nope. I need the heat to sweat out the alcohol."

"And you don't care that the water's transparent?"

She shrugged. "Too rough to care, and it's not like you haven't seen me naked, is it?"

"Hey, I'm not complaining."

"Isn't it time you had your shower?" She muttered.

"Yeah, although right now I'm giving serious consideration to joining you in the bath," He admitted.

"Shower. Go."

"Ah, but..."

"Shower."

Kyle chuckled, seeing how she was back to her forceful self despite the chronic hangover. He opened the cubicle, turned the shower on and then stripped off his clothes and stepped inside.

"You're starting to tone up, Kyle," Patricia told him a moment later.

"Yeah?" Cool." He opened the door a fraction, turning the opaque glass transparent again, so he could see her while they chatted.

"Changing, and not just physically," She added, the Pepsi can still held to her forehead.

"How do you mean?"

"You're becoming a lot more confident, more take charge, know what I mean?"

Kyle shrugged. "Not really."

"A few days ago you weren't confident talking to women, you were shit-scared about meeting your sisters and you were reluctant to accept what was happening. Now you're the guy who stood up in front of a load of strangers and nailed his own speech, mingled with A-listers without exhibiting any nerves and you're a lot more confident."

Kyle frowned. "Just getting used to things, I guess. I'm still the same guy though."

"Just don't turn into an asshole, okay? No monster-ego or anything," She said, finally opening the can.

Kyle chuckled. "Yeah, that's not likely."

"Hello? Are you guys back there?"

Kyle recognised Lakshmi's voice and quickly shut the cubicle door, turning the shower opaque again.

"I'm in the shower," Kyle called back.

"Just come in, Shmi," Patricia told her. A moment later he heard the Indian girl start to laugh.

"Some things never change, Trish," She said a moment later. "So how bad?"

"Remember the last time we were at Aspen?" Patricia said quietly.

"Really? That bad? You were pretty hammered last night."

"Oh, don't I know it. What's up?"

"Kyle's being asked for downstairs. Charlize." Lakshmi explained.

"Really?" Kyle called from the shower.

"Probably wants to hit on you again," Patricia added.

"Jealous much?" Lakshmi said, laughing.

"Not at all," Patricia replied, getting another laugh from Lakshmi. "Okay, maybe a little. I like to think of it as overly protective."

Kyle was a little startled at how open the conversation was between the two of them, until he remembered that they usually shared one of the houses on the Island. They obviously knew each other really well and were good friends.

"Any idea what she actually wants?" Kyle asked.

"I'm guessing she wants to set up a booty call for when you're in LA," Patricia suggested.

"Maybe," Lakshmi said tentatively. "More likely it's to do some groundwork for getting you to invest in a movie she's producing and acting in at some point later this year."

"Could be," Patricia allowed.

"Is it a good investment?" Kyle asked, wondering what he should do or say.

"Who knows," Patricia replied. "If it's anything to do with that, she'll just be wanting to set up a meeting, probably invite you to visit her when she's working or something."

"Ah, the attraction of a behind-the-scenes private tour," Lakshmi said. "That sounds likely."

"Then again, she might just want your cock before breakfast," Patricia added.

"Trish!" Lakshmi said sharply.

"What? Kyle's a grown-up. Besides, we chat about this stuff," Patricia replied, then Kyle heard her sigh. "I feel like shit."

"You should get up, have some fruit and get down to the gym," Her friend told her. "Kyle, you should get out the shower and get dressed. She's sitting downstairs at the pool."

"Okay," Kyle said. He reached for the door and paused. "Lakshmi?"

"She's gone," Patricia replied. "You can come out now."

Kyle opened the door, grabbed a towel and sat on the edge of the bath. "You okay?"

"I'll get over it."

"Any suggestions on what I should do downstairs?"

"Take a meeting, take her number, tell her you're a fan, and compliment her. Tell her you'd be delighted to meet with her when you're in town but you don't know when that'll be." Patricia took a deep breath. "And don't fuck her please."

Kyle cocked an eyebrow. "I wasn't planning on it, but okay."

"I've no right to even say that," She said, looking at him. "I don't know what this is, what's going on between us, if anything, but I feel shit enough today without getting uber jealous too."

"You'd get all jealous?" Kyle asked, a smile twitching at his lips. "That's so cute."

"Shut up," She muttered, blushing a little. "And go get dressed."

Kyle got up to leave, but her hand grabbed his, stopping him.

"Kyle, just wanted to say thanks again for... not doing anything last night."

He looked down at her, this incredible, gorgeous woman lying in the bath and he smiled. "Patricia, if we're going to hook up, me and you, I want you sober, I want you conscious and I want you being you. Not drunk and half asleep."

"I'm not promising anything," She said a moment later.

"I know," He nodded. "But I know you're into me, and you know I'm into you. We'll get it together or we won't. I just hope we do."

She nodded and let his hand go.

Kyle left and got dressed, opting for light blue jeans, an old faded t-shirt and timberland boots, Margaret be damned. He roughly towel-dried his hair and swept into place with his fingers, grabbed a pair of shades, his phone and cigarettes and headed outside.

He found the actress sitting at a table overlooking the pool, looking elegant as she sipped at a coffee. Kyle said hello and took a seat.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes," She smiled. "It's so peaceful here."

"Feel free to visit any time you like," Kyle told her. "I've no idea if my sisters or I will be here, but there's plenty room if you need to get away for a few days."

"I might take you up on that," She replied. Her eyes flicked down to the phone and cigarettes on the table. "Smoke if you want to, I don't mind."

Kyle lit up. "So you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah. When you coming to LA?"

He laughed, reminded of the conversation upstairs. "Honestly, no idea. I get the feeling they're going to keep me travelling for the next few months, but I haven't seen the itinery yet."

"Well, I know you've got a lot of business in town, so give me a call when you do," She said. "And my friends call me Charlie, not Charlize."

"Okay," He nodded, picking up his phone. He opened the address book, typed in a new contact called 'Charlie T' and then handed her the handset. "Punch your number in."

She handed it back a few moments later, her number entered. "That's my personal phone, okay?"

Kyle nodded, then smiled. "So is this 'give me a call' thing... is it personal or business?"

The actress laughed. "That's direct. Let's just say it's a bit of both. I assume you're okay with that?"

"I think so," Kyle said, smiling.

"You should take a picture to go with that number on your cell, just so you don't forget who I am," She told him, a smile twitching at her lips.

"Yeah, because my phone's full of Oscar-winning hotties," Kyle joked. He picked up his phone and it took a couple of minutes fiddling before he had the camera working. Eventually though, he had a shot of her smiling at him added to the contact.

"Ring me," She said a moment later.

"Now?"

"Well, I don't have your number, do I?" She pointed out.

"Good point." He gave her a quick call, and then she insisted on taking his picture too.

"So no idea when you're coming into town?"

"Honestly, not a clue," He admitted. "I don't think they've figured that part of it out yet."

"Well, feel free to message me in the meantime."

"Sorry to interrupt," Lakshmi said, appearing at the table. "There's a call for you, Kyle."

"Okay," He nodded, wondering who it was. "Got to go for now. See you at breakfast?"

"Sure," Charlie replied, giving his hand a squeeze as he grabbed his phone.

Kyle nodded and followed Lakshmi back to the stairs and up to his suite. "Who's the call from?"

"No-one," Lakshmi admitted. "I was just talking to Heidi and..."

"There's no call?" Kyle said. He'd been enjoying the conversation with Charlie, and it had been innocent enough, but he was a little pissed that it had been interrupted.

"Kyle," Lakshmi said sharply, her voice low. "Listen to me. I've just been talking to Heidi. She just let me know that Katie's having a few problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"I'm not sure. Heidi's a bit of a cold fish sometimes, and she's not great with the emotional stuff, but she let slip that Katie's been crying in her bed for the last couple of nights. I think she's lonely."

Kyle frowned. "You think she's lonely?"

Lakshmi nodded. "I was watching her yesterday and she's quite withdrawn. She would chat with people for a while, but then she'd make some excuse and slip away. Has she mentioned anything to you?"

Kyle straightened up as he realised he hadn't really had much of a chance to talk with her over the last couple of days. He'd had his late night chats with Kara, but the only time he'd spent around Katie had been meals and meetings.

"I haven't really had much of a chance to talk with her," He admitted. Now that she'd brought the subject up, Kyle realised he hadn't really seen Kara and Katie hanging out much either.

"I'll go see her," He said firmly.

Lakshmi held out a hand, stopping him. "What about bringing some of her friends out?"

Kyle shrugged. "I don't have a problem with that. Want me to talk to her about it?"

"Yes, please," She replied. "If I'm wrong, then no harm done. If I'm right then she'll have people she can talk to, and it wouldn't do any harm if you spent a little more time together, the three of you."

"When we do it's all work."

"I'll change the schedules today, get a bit more fun stuff in there if you like?"

Kyle nodded firmly. "That would be really good. The last few days have been pretty heavy, know what I mean?"

Lakshmi nodded. "Thanks, Kyle."

"Is she in her room?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Kyle walked around the balcony and knocked on the open door frame. "Katie? You in there?"

"Back here," She called. Kyle followed her voice to the large bedroom at the rear where she was sat on the bed with a large laptop, a pen and tablet device plugged in the side.

"How you doing?" He asked.

"Good. Come and see," She said, nodding to the bed.

Kyle walked round and sat down beside her, seeing she was working on the images she'd shot last night at the party. She flicked open a gallery full of dark thumbnails, then opened the first one full screen.

"Wow," Kyle murmured, seeing a shot of Sting and Neil Finn, the sunset behind them as they played.

"Cool, huh?" She replied, clicking to turn the slideshow on.

Kyle sat there, amazed at the photos she'd captured and edited. Some of the changes were subtle and some undetectable to his eye, but as the evening wore on, there was more shadow in the shots, and then he was looking at black and white pictures, everything shadowed out but the closeup of the person in the picture.

"Katie, these are fucking amazing," He told her. "You must have been up all night."

"I had a couple of hours sleep, but editing photos is like an addiction." She shrugged. "I've been like that for years."